Sydney Day 2 – Of factory outlets, Korean hairdressers and filthy rich Asians

I decided to go to Strathfield, a twenty-minute train ride and a fifteen-minute bus ride out of town. But, there was a major factory outlet there and by default, every starving student’s place to go.

It was huge and I bought six books, for $90. That is cheap, considering a couple of them originally cost close to a hundred each. Having settled the books, I went to have more fun – clothing. The place is oragnaised like a shopping mall except everything is cheap. Oh gosh, so this is what it feels like to be Singaporean! I took one walk round the place, browsing everything. And then went to buy things only on the second round. I only picked up this sweater for $30. Of course there was plenty of nice clothes around… but since I didn’t find them particularly nice, I didn’t buy them. Pretty surprised at my self-restraint.

I needed a haircut badly and saw a Korean hairdresser at Strathfield (which it turns out is Little Korea) and having heard that Koreans were the better hairdressers, I tried my luck. They were cheap, at only $15 but I think the cut could have been better.

I was back in Sydney by the late evening and finally went to meet up with Steffen. He is from Germany and a model. His latest shoot possibly for D&G though he might not take it if it clashes with his school. Argh, some people! Turning down a D&G shoot!

We went back to his dorm (which is huge and he is allowed to pull in a spare bed, that’s how big his room is!) had a shower and headed out for a movie – my first in a few months! We watched Step Up 2, which was pretty nice for all the dancing. Steffen enjoyed it on another level since he is a trained ballet dancer.

After that we headed to Capitol Square, where we met one of his girlfriends, Judy a Singaporean, and her friends. We took some silly neo-prints and then headed back to one of their apartments. Apart from Steffen, Judy and I there were three others: Clarence and Vanessa, siblings from Singapore and Pear from Thailand. They all know each other because they stay in the same apartment.

But apartment hardly begins to cut it as it’s more like a hotel. We were in Clarence and Vanessa’s unit, which was on the 54th floor and had a fantastic view. They have an incredible sound system, loaded with a pretty impressive gaming system. For most of the time we were there they played this game which where you had to synchronise the drums, guitar and the singing so three could play at a time. There was also a DJ console in the balcony.

Needless to say, they were dripping with cash. I just find it hard to fathom this immense wealth, where the kids simply have no inkling of the value of money.